For much of the world, it’s the time of year for family, feasting, present giving, and of course the annual review. They always say if you can’t beat them join them, so here’s Marie Stopes International’s look back at what proved to be a pivotal year in sexual and reproductive health, and a peek forward at 2012.

Rick Perry had a vasectomy. But in his relentless attacks on contraception, and of course, abortion and comprehensive sex education, Perry is doing all he can to reassure his base that many of his fellow Texans will not have the same opportunity to control their childbearing as the Perry family had.

In the Madhya Pradesh state of India, the administration is offering men guns in exchange for vasectomies. But in choosing to meet targets rather than educating communities, the administration is hardening stereotypes of manliness, placing communities in even more vulnerable positions.